Maj. Hasan Moved to Military Death Row; Forced Shaving Planned

By |August 31, 2013

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the military psychiatrist sentenced to death in the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, will be forced to shave his beard on death row, the New York Times reports. Hasan, a Muslim, grew the beard for religious reasons in violation of Army regulations. He said he did not want to die without a beard because being clean-shaven was a sin.

A military appeals court vacated a judge's order that he be forcibly shaved, and he wore a thick beard and camouflage fatigues throughout his trial. On Friday, he was transferred to Fort Leavenworth, Ks., home of the military's death row and death chamber. Military officials indicated they were ready to shave him, forcibly if necessary, since the appellate court's ruling had no bearing on their rules. He was convicted of the worst mass murder on a military installation in U.S. history. It will be more than a decade, military law experts said, before he is likely to be executed, as his case goes through an automatic appeals process and his death sentence, if upheld, awaits presidential approval.

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